Adjusting device for roller mills



J. W. KENT Aug. 23, 1932.

ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR ROLLER MILLS Filed Feb. 19, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l ai wemioz 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J. W. KENT Filed Feb. 19, 1930 ADJUSTING DEVICE FOR ROLLER MILLS a 7 i 3 3 a a F 9 7 3 J In 0 Mm. M3 2 W m v WK M W n u 1 3\ 3 WW W fl/u 3 Z} 6 W 2 x a 2 7 5 fl fi L Patented Aug. 23, 1.932

JAMES W. xnnwor nnoonnnni NEW monk:

ADJUSTING. nnvron non noLLnn Application and F'ebruary 19'; 1930: seriar-Ne;429,5o1.\

This invention relates toimprovementsin theadjusti-ng mechanism em-ployed roller mills of the typeused forgrinding'paints and like materials. The invention also "relates to e certain novel arrangements inthe operation of such a mill for the'p'urp'ese of increasing th'e'outp'u-t; j

The object of the'inventi'on'is to provide an improved roller adjusting mechanism in mills of the type-shown in my pending application for patent filed May lith, 1929, Serial Number 361,636, although the present invention-i's not" limitedt'o any particulartype of mill. i In machines of the type referredl to, the material; such 'aspaint is groundby being passed between adjacent rollers, whichmust be finely adjusted towards eachother so that the material passes-- between them in the shape of a thin film of varying thicknesses dependin-gupon the material and the degree of grinding desired. And in order insure uniformity it is necessaryfth-at the adjusting I m mechanism be of a type-Whichdoes not admit of accidental disturbance, free play or other troublesome influences. V

Heretofore the adjustingmechanisms for accurately positioning the grinding rollers have usuallyincluded'anumberof gears and 3 pinions, which admit of a c'ertain amount of playbetween co-operating' part'sand this in turn has caused trouble and 'inaceu-racies in the adjusted relations of the grinding rollers. With such geared mechanisms it-lias-been a practical impossibility or nearly sotoobtain permanency'in the adjusted positions of the rollers. f a V t is a specific object of this invention to provide grinding roller adjusting means so arranged and constructed, that adjustments to a very fine degree may be easily obtained and maintained throughout the grinding operation without requiring constant attendance and frequent re-adjustments.

WVith these obj ects in view my invention is embodied in an adjusting mechanism for roller mills and in certain other features thereof as hereinafter described and as irlus KO trated in the accompanying drawings in whlch Fig; 1 is aside view inoutliine eta-roller m-ill: equipped with my improved: adjusting mechanism, parts being broken-away and with-details omitted: Y I

Fig. 2 is aplan view; partlyin section and 55 partly broken away,- showin'g the' adjr isting Inechanismin'detail. r

Fig; 3 1's a detail view of parts showni-n Figure 2; i l i Fig. 4 is adiagrammatic view illustrating 69 an improved driving meehanism for the grinding rollers. i

The reference numeral} 5 denotes wholl'ow housingor framework in' which there: is mounted a plurality of grinding rol l ers bg 7, 8; 9 an'dlO; Theroll'er'fi is also afeed roll'er which, together with A a portion of the roller 7, forms the bottom of the hopper 54s which contains the material to: be greundi- The 7' grinding rollers are providedwithshafts :11; 12; 13 and 14 which are journaled linbearing boXes=I5,;-I6,' 17 and 18 theconstructionof course being duplicated on the other side of themachine. a

The bearing boxes are secured int-place by suitable? top bars 19- and front barsQU. The rollersare kept in frietional grinding contact with each other an'd are ad just'ed'so'asto reg-u late-the pressure between'them; The-adjustment is,' however, regulate'd'with reference 8% to-the third roller 8, the bearings ldofwhizch are clamped in position by the front'bars 20 Thesecond roller 7 is adj ustjed with refer ence to the roller 8-by means-which operate through spacing blocks 22 which areel a-ni-ped securely inplace between thebars 20 and the frame and bolted to the latter lea-ving room for the bearingldto sl i dein: Springsfi are interposed between thebearings andithe frame; 7 j The adjusting mechanismcomprises the following elements. To each spacing block 22, seeFig-ureQ, there-'isbolted a housing 25, eneofwhich forms-a bearinglfor a rotatabl'y mounted interiorly threadedsleeve 26", which is supported between suitable thrust ball bearings 27; 27 and locked against axial movement by a nut 28. The-sleev'eis rotated by asliaft 29 which is keyed to-itand-pro W vided 'with a hand when; 30*.-

, The numeral 31 denotes an adjusting shaft which extends from housing 'to housing, and which is in threaded engagement with the sleeve 26 at 32. Within each housing the adjusting shaft 31 carries a wedge 33 adapted toslide transversely of the shaft in a slot against it bears a steel ball 37 seated within,

a screw 38 in threaded engagement with the housing. The screw has a hole 39 for the 7 application of a turning tool,"such as a bar or pin. 40 is a lock nut. The adjuster bar 35 is slidably held in the spacing block 22 and bears'against the journal box 15. V

The construction is alike at both ends of the shaft 31 except that the operating or actuating sleeve 26 is found at one end only. The roller 7 is adjusted by operating the handwheel, to rotate the threaded sleeve- 26 whereby to cause an axial movement of the adjusting shaft 31 to draw thewedges longitudinally against thepins 34 and force the bars against the bearing boxes 15 to move the roller 7 t'o'wards the roller 8 against the force of the springs 23 to obtain the required frictional grinding contact between the two rollers} V When this has been accomplished, one or both of the screws 38 may be operated to force the ball 37 against the wedge 33 and either finely adjust the pressure at either or both ends of the roller. 7, or to lock the wedge firmly in adjusted position. In any event, it

will be seen that once adjustment has been made there is no play between the parts of the adjusting, mechanism which remains set until changed by the operator. The wedge 33 is the only member which has an adjusting pressing movement, and inasmuch as it operates between the hardened steel parts 34 and 37, the wear and tear is negligible, positive operative action assured and the adjustment is permanent for the particular setting.

A similar adjustingmechanism is shown at the top of Figure 1 for adjusting the roller 9 against the force of the spring 41. A still further similar adjusting mechanism is employed for adjusting the roll 10 against the force of the spring 42 which is seated against a block 43 locked in the frame.- The last mentioned adjusting mechanism is not shown.

between the rollers 8 and 9 whereby an increase in the grinding pressure might result. In any event, the slowing up of the roller 9' results in increased output.

Figure 4 illustrates diagrammatically a driving mechanism which operates to slow down the roller 9. In this instance a driving gear 45 operates at 300 R. P. M. and drives the gear 46 on roller 9 at 150 R. P. M. The gear 46 drives the gear 47 on roller 10'at 300 The gear 48 which also runs at 150 R. P. M. drives a gear 49 on the roller 8 at 225 R. P. M. and gear 49 drives .gear 50 on roller 7 at R. P. M. The speed of the rollers is therefore increasing except, at roller 9 which is materially slower than the preceding and succeeding rollers 8 and 10 respectively. I

I claim;

1. In a roller mill of the character described, a grinding roller, a pair of bearing boxes supporting the same, a plurality of nonrotatable members operable laterally in contact with the said bearing boxes to adjust the same, means for simultaneously actuating said non-rotatable members and other means for individually actuating said non-rotatable members to effect an individual adjustment of the bearing boxes and lock the same in adjusted positions. j

2. In a roller mill of the character described, a grinding roller, a pair of bearing boxes supporting the same,adjuster bars laterally operable in contact with the bearing boxes to adjust'the position of the said roller, means for simultaneously actuating said adjuster bars and other means for individually actuating the adjuster bars to effect individ ual adjustments of the bearing boxes and for locking them in adjusted positions.

3. In a roller mill of the character de scribed, a grinding roller, apair of bearing boxes supporting the same, adjusting means for said bearing boxes comprising adjuster bars contacting with said boxes, wedges, for actuating said adjuster bars, an adjuster shaft for slidably supporting said wedges, means for operating the adjuster shaft to cause the wedges to force the adjuster bars against the bearing boxes, and other means for moving the wedges transversely of the said adjuster shaft to lock the adjuster barsin adjusted positions.

JAMES W. KENT.

In roller mills of the type herein disclosed 7 it has been the practice to gradually increase the speed of the rollers progressively from the roller '7 to the roller- 10. I have found, however, that a finer grinding may be done and the output materially increased by slowi ng up the roller 9. This result may be caused by an increase or accumulation of material 

